33-acre Golden Gate Estates fire 80 percent contained

NAPLES — Firefighters continued Sunday night to work on a 33-acre brush fire in Golden Gate Estates, which is now 80 percent contained.

According to Mike Weston, senior forester with the Florida Division of Forestry's Caloosahatchee Forestry Center, reports about a possible fire started coming in Saturday evening.

The fire, located south of Frangipani Avenue off Dove Tree Street, is re-burning an area where a previous fire broke out two weeks ago, Weston said.

On Monday, the Division of Forestry will conduct a burnout operation if conditions are right. With low winds and higher humidity, Weston said that by fighting fire with fire, crews can suppress the current brush fire and avoid a week-long event.

"People will be seeing more smoke if conditions hold out," he said. "This is one of the more dangerous operations with fire suppressing because you're putting fire on the ground."

With the past week and weekend creating perfect conditions for brush fires — low humidity and steady winds — Weston noted that the rain the Naples area saw a week ago has lost any effect it had on the ground.

"We're at critical levels in terms of fire dangers," he said. "We're cautious (about the burnout operation), but when it makes sense, we try and do it."